Veteran forward Mikael Samuelsson cleared waivers at noon on Sunday and has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings announced.

The move clears a roster spot for Johan Franzen's return from injury, as he re-enters the lineup with Detroit hosting the Florida Panthers Sunday evening.

As Samuelsson is on an over-35 contract, only $100,000 of his $3 million salary cap hit will be buried by his demotion to the American Hockey League. This won't be an issue for the Red Wings until Stephen Weiss comes off of long-term injured reserve at the end of the Olympic break.

Samuelsson was a healthy scratch for 25 games this season. In 26 games of mostly fourth-line action, he has one goal and two assists and a -4 rating.